BACKCOUNTRY FLAG – VOTE FOR THE BEST New Zealand’s magazine of the outdoors since 1991
OCTOBER 2015
see more, do more, live more
WEST COAST REWARDS
Beating rain and rough terrain in a tramper’s paradise
WIN! $240 KEEN TRAMPING BO OTS! 12 PAIRS UP FOR G RABS
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Volunteers doing what the government won’t
OLD LEGS, NEW TRACKS
What’s driving the growth of mid-week walking groups?
PACKS GALORE
Find the right pack for your next trip
TEN trips in Kahurangi National Park Survive Great Walk avalanche season Tramp to Ruahines, Aspiring, Tararuas, Abel Tasman, Ruapehu and more www.wildernessmag.co.nz
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EASY WEEKENDS IN ROTORUA LAKES AND GOLDEN BAY
contents OCTOBER 2015
34
FEATURES 16 Backcountry flag – it’s time to vote! Take a look at the finalists and vote for your favourite
34 Hard bastards holiday
Killing stoats deep in Te Urewera
38 To all those who think they’re past it…
How weekly walking groups are inspiring retirees off the couch
42 Power to the people
Has giving money to volunteers to restore the backcountry actually worked?
42
WAYPOINTS 18
Alpine quick fix Mt Armstrong, Aspiring National Park
20 Backcountry for rookies
Mt Guy, Hakatere Conservation Park
22 See more
Mountain neinei
20
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Subscribe this month for your chance to win one of 12 pairs of Keen tramping boots worth $240!
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1
YOUR TRIPS, YOUR PIX
What did you get up to last weekend?
Five-month old Gethin Coburn visited Woolshed Creek Hut with his mum and dad
Wendy McMillan, Graham Pease and Mike Guthrie tramped to Rangiwahia Hut
Barb Toms walked the Routeburn Track
Luke and Kevin van Soest walked the Routeburn Track
Martin and Tina visited Junction Hut in Kopuwai Conservation Area, Otago
Luca and Matthew Parrett tramped to Christchurch’s Packhorse Hut
Oli and Janni climbed Mt Arthur in Kahurangi NP
Troy and Regan Mare enjoyed the snow on a trip to Rangiwahia Hut, Ruahine FP
Tom Brennan climbed Mt Holdsworth in Tararua FP
Will Voigt Price climbed Pirongia for his first overnight tramp
SEND YOUR PIX Get your photo published here to receive the Light My Fire ‘Pack-up-Cup’. This compressible 260ml cup keeps drinks warm and protected from dirt and bugs with its tight and secure lid. Just fold it out and fill it up. More details at ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria at wildernessmag.co.nz
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7
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
MIND
GAMES ON THE
HOKITIKA
NEIL SILVERWOOD
Lauren Kelley battles all the West Coast can throw at her in a soggy escapade through classic backcountry
Swingbridge above the Mungo River
WILD
C O N S E R VAT I O N
HARD
BASTARDS
H O L I D AY Hauling heavy packs and killing stoats in remote Te Urewera is not your run of the mill holiday, discovers Nathan Pipenberg
W
e were deep in the heart of Te Urewera rainforest, carefully threading our way down an exposed slip to the Tauranga River. From there, our fourperson team would wade upstream for three kilometres to Te Pua Hut, our home for the week and a welcome sight after 12 hours on our feet. But first, a steep, shifting slope of scree and sand stood in our way.We all wore cumbersome aluminium packboards – perfect for carrying heavy loads but a nuisance on the steep terrain we were now negotiating. As I approached the crux of our descent, I found myself on my backside, slipping slowly downhill with no handholds in reach. The pack shifted slightly, and suddenly my balance was gone – and I nearly was as well. I’d had enough of the pack. I took it off and tossed it to the ground a few metres below me. But it didn’t stop there. It bounced and continued tumbling out of sight down the slip. It crashed past rocks and through cutty grass for the next few seconds. I listened warily, while behind me the rest of the team had stopped their own treacherous descents to contemplate my pack’s sorry fate. We stared at each other for a few moments, and then we all burst out laughing. The others were probably amused by the stunned look on my face, but I was struck by the fact of being out here, sweating up hills and falling back down, all to protect a few birds that I probably wouldn't even get the chance to see. For outsiders, New Zealanders seem 34 OCTOBER 2015
obsessed with the protection of native fauna, especially of the avian persuasion. I can say this with authority because I am an outsider – an American who’s both impressed with, and a bit intimidated by, the scope of conservation efforts here. Earlier this year, I was one of 15 volunteers gathered in Te Urewera to see the conservation work in person, as part of a Department of Conservation volunteer project setting and baiting stoat traps in the backcountry. The trips were organised by Matt Haines, a DOC biodiversity ranger based in Te Urewera and a fellow American transplant. He too first experienced New Zealand as a traveller, and returned a few years later to reunite with his girlfriend, and volunteer with DOC. After two months of hard work, he was offered a permanent position. “I’m loving the area, the people and the work,” Haines says. “It was an easy decision to stay.” Before the trip, he invited me to join a Facebook group where new volunteers organised car-pooling and past volunteers shared memories and photos. Two things from the page stuck out to me: one was the number of photos posted of volunteers being flown into the work sites by helicopter. Given the chance, I wanted to take that ride. The other was the name and description of the group – ‘Hard Bastards Holiday: killing stoats with extreme prejudice.’ I was excited, and a little nervous, to get started. Te Urewera is well off the beaten path. Together with the nearby Whirinaki Te Puaa-Tane Conservation Park, it is the larg-
est remaining swathe of native bush in the North Island. The forest is only accessible via a single metal road, which leads to the area's main tourist attraction, Lake Waikaremoana. North of the lake,Te Urewera is lonesome in comparison – dominated by thick prehistoric rainforest, covering steep chasms and hiding narrow valleys. Because of that isolation, it’s an epicentre for conservation efforts. According to DOC, Te Urewera is still home to every species of forest bird endemic to the North Island, save for the North Island weka.The northern section of the forest is home to the largest remaining population of kokako, and a reintroduction programme for kiwi hatchlings. In all, the conservation work in Te Urewera is a coordinated effort that includes DOC, Tuhoe Te Uru Taumatua, the non-profit Whio Forever, a host of enthusiastic volunteers, and even the Rangipo Prison Farm, where stoat traps are constructed as part of a prison work programme. The bird populations are key to understanding Te Urewera. “Kiwi, kokako and whio are the best indicator species,” says Haines. If these species are thriving, it's a good sign that stoat numbers are down and the forest is healthy. It’s also a waiting game. Before the new trapping regime put in this year, just one of 15 kiwi hatchlings survived in 2014. Haines says hopes are much higher for this year, with 172 stoat kills in Te Urewera as of June. But the pay-off is gradual. In addition to the six volunteer trips placing traps, the traps must be cleaned and reset regularly, and both stoat and kiwi populations are monitored. I was part of the sixth and final ‘Hard Bastards’ trap-setting expedition, the last in a project that spanned six months, covered 8000ha and included 70 volunteers who together donated more than 2000 hours of their time. Volunteers converged from all
Volunteers walk along – and through – the Tauranga River to reach the road end
WILD VOLUNTEERS
POWER TO THE
PEOPLE A scheme giving volunteers the money to maintain their favourite huts and tracks has been running for more than a year. Matthew Pike finds out why the budget has been cut for year two
T
he route up was along a good ol’ backcountry track; nothing too steep, nothing too boggy, no foliage to brush out the way. It wasn’t the polished pavement of a Great Walk but it was well marked and fun to climb. After two hours I caught up with the guys who’d just built it. Keen tramper Tony Walton was leading a group from Auckland and Howick tramping clubs. They’d set off from the big smoke early that morning for a weekend of cutting, hacking and sawing a continuation of the trail. While most of the volunteers started work for the day, Walton continued up the hill with Warren Geraghty, a local DOC ranger sacrificing a day off to measure how much material needed to be dumped by helicopter to overcome the boggy patches on the ridge at the top. I left them to it, heading left across the ridge. The going was pretty tough – relentlessly up and down with large patches of mud, cutty grass, branches and fallen trees blocking the path. It was a wholly different experience to the track I’d been on before, but it could have been worse; had I gone right, I was told, the terrain is so unforgiving I wouldn’t have made it to a hut that night. I was on a section of the old North South Track, soon to become the Kaimai Ridgeway, in the Kaimai Range. I was relieved to learn that over the next few months, selfless volunteers from Auckland, Hamilton, Cambridge, Tauranga and other towns in the region, are going to make tramping here far more achievable. The tramping and hunting clubs around 42 OCTOBER 2015
these hills have got together to change Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park’s image of being rough and inaccessible. “A lot of people have been tramping up here and have spent a night outside when they weren’t expecting to because it takes too long, or because it’s easy to lose the line of a track,” says Walton, who believes the park could attract far more people. One only needs to try and book Waitawheta Hut on a Saturday night – along one of the few easy walking tracks in the park – to realise the potential for this place. Rangers will tell you that, prior to Waitawheta becoming part of DOC’s hut booking system, they could see 80 people cram into the building for the night. The clubs are all doing their bit – each covering different sections of the park – to transform the Kaimais into a place with a wide network of quality tracks with huts to match. It’s a five-year plan that would not have been possible without the $44,000 which has become available over the past 12 months. The Community Conservation Partnerships Fund (CCPF) is a DOC initiative to support volunteers who want to do their bit to improve their little corner of New Zealand. It has promised $26 million to community conservation and recreation groups over a four-year period. Part of this money goes to the Outdoor Recreation Consortium, a group specifically representing the backcountry, mainly benefitting trampers, cyclists and hunters, but also helping the likes of horse riders and 4WD groups. This money will never be used to spruce up the likes of Anchorage Hut on the Abel
NEW ZEALAND ALPINE CLUB
A volunteer from NZAC repairs Centennial Hut
BUYER'S
G uide
MULTIDAY PACKS
For tramps longer than two days, you need a large-capacity pack capable of carrying food, equipment, even shelter. CAPACITY
Between 50 and 90-litres, multiday packs will be single or double compartment in design. The lid is often extendable, creating up to 10 litres additional storage. Additional pockets on the front, in the lid, on the side and on the hipbelt provide ample storage for your gear.
- Alistair Hall
FABRIC
Nylon fabrics tend to be lighter and protect against the elements, though they will not be as enduring as canvas packs. High denier fabrics are used in highwear areas like the pack’s base, with lighter denier fabrics used on areas that receive less abrasion .
EXTERNAL STORAGE
Straps, gear loops, beaver tails and daisy chains allow tents, walking poles, ice tools and other essential equipment to be carried outside the pack for easy access and without the risk of loss.
HARNESS AND SHOULDER STRAPS
Adjustable to suit your back length, harnesses keep the load stable, directed to your hips and allow freedom of movement. A suspended mesh or ventilated foam backpanel promotes airflow while supporting the back muscles from lumbar to shoulders. Shoulder straps should curve over the shoulders, contouring around the neck and under armpits. Adjustable sternum straps should sit across the centre of, or just above, the chest.
HIPBELT
Fitted correctly, the hipbelt will sit just above the hips so that 80 per cent of the pack’s weight is supported by the hip bones. The belt pivots to move with the body, ensuring a natural gait and aiding stability over uneven ground.
Featured pack: Lowe Alpine Zephyr ($399.95). Distributed by Outfitters. www.outfitters.net.nz
WOMEN’S SPECIFIC HARNESSES
Many packs come in female-specific options. These have smaller harnesses and shorter hipbelts. Shoulder straps will be narrower and contoured differently to a standard pack.
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NZ COUNTRY Easy walks and weekend getaways
WALKING
WEEKENDS AWAY Short holidays to Rotorua Lakes and Golden Bay
TASTY PICNIC RECIPES TO TAKE WITH YOU